CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

        Nigeriais a commercial manufacturing and transportation country. Individual peoplebusiness and government we many different types of telecommunication in thecountry.

        Telecommunication arrived in Nigeria over100 years ago. At independent in 1960, the country has about 18,724 phonelines. From, independence various government made several attempt to increasethe number of telephone lines to Nigeria. However, these attemptsfailed woefully due to certain reasons, chiefly among these are monopoly ofthis sector by the country’s public utility Nigeria telecommunication plc.Nitel and its corrupt management. By the beginning of 1999, there were roughly500,000 lines available for population of around 120 million Nigerians.

        Whatever uncomplimentary things,justified or not that many may have to say about the Olusegun Obasanjoadministration since its in caption in May, 1999. One things has become in controvertible,this government successfully brought us a deregulated communications sector by auctioningis global system for mobile (GSM) license in January, 2001 and 285 million eachand further resented a license 3 for NITEL. The administrations succeed whereother before it had fail, in the end, these 3 lines the MTN is at the action.MTN communication wireless were awarded fully GSM license.

 An underlining vision for the introduction to GSM by the Nigeria government was to expand to Nigeria tele density and directly mate telephone communication cheap and accessible to common man . MTN telecommunication opens its door to its customers two days later that the ECONET wireless has opened its own, MTN has a similar package.

        Trust Nigeria, eager subscribers timberedboth network operations to great available lines. These third networks NITELwas now here to be found mainly due to, its unprepared ness and internaldisequilibrium.

        These two companies, according to theirimage makers have within two months, add mole telephone lines. Over 1 millionas at the last count, into the Nigeriaenvironment, more was ever the case in 40 years of independence.

 One years after, GSM has come to stay in Nigeria infact many have called for the introduction of the GSM telephone revolution in way, but one can also refer to GSM as a quantum leap for Nigerians infrastructure capacity building, which is a major ingredient for the much debated jump starting of the strangulated national economy. According to a World Bank comparative study on information and communication network between 1994-1997 in some African Countries, Nigerian was discovered to have 4 phone lines per 1000 people as opposed to 5 in Cameroon, 9 in Kenya, 11 in Senegal; and 15 in Zimbabwe. Another study contained in the World development report, 1999/2000 situates Nigeria as having merely 4000 telephones main lines and 0.00 mobile telephones respectively as at 1997.

        Thus, Nigerians embraced the GSM at itsintroduction. Expectation had always been high for the introduction of a massbased telephony which is both convenient and cheap to acquire.

        The nation treasury also benefitedthrough license fee payments and import duties, though discounted and willcontinue to benefit through payroll and other taxes from these companies. Manydirect and indirect jobs have been created. Such as employment by theindividual operators, direct and indirect dealers, street recharge. Refill cardhawkers, downright, tout selling second-hand handsets and accessories. We camalso say that the Nigerians lives of the people of Kwara Stateespecially have been transformed and the socio-economics setting has beenre-energized.

We should not neglect the fact that GSM has actually created the habit of time management in Nigeria and Kwara State particularly. This can be noticed right from the curtailment of expensive Nigeria salutations while contributing to the reduction of motor accidents on major highways due to the elimination of long journeys for pleasure and business. It is now convenient to place a call to business. As societies or relative rather than waste valuable time embarking on sometimes needless journey top among its benefit is the gait the Nigeria business environment has assumed with improved cost and information technology awardness through Wap services (Wireless Application Protocol), commerce through mobile payment system called M-payments among others further investors feels free and more secured investing in the economy now as the GSM offered a cornerstone in Nigerian’s race towards attainment of adequate infrastructure. According to most users, the cost of maintenance most have argued that call charges are too exorbitant at round 60 Naira per minute at the inception, but now about 30 Naira where as our per capital income per year in Nigeria as low. The telecom companies on the hands have insisted that they are still at lost and would probably break ever than until 2005. They have both ruled out direct tariff.